June 19, 2024

Hope and Optimism

June 19, 2024/ Staff

When second-termer Senator Risa Hontiveros took over the chairmanship of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, little did she anticipate that her unwavering advocacy of the rights of the constituencies under her ambit would lead to a high-profile investigation with national security implications. Hontiveros has become known as a meticulous and expert questioner during Senate hearings, sparing no one, not even the powerful. We had a long one-on-one conversation with the Senator when she visited the San Francisco Bay Area last week and we found hope and optimism in this lady who now leads the genuine political opposition in the Philippines.

Among the many celebrations in June -- it's Juneteenth today in the US and Jose Rizal's 153rd birth anniversary in the Philippines -- are LGBTQI+ Pride Month and National Cancer Survivors Day last June 2. We celebrate both with appropriate stories this week.

We have a situationer on the growing disquiet in the LGBTQI+ community in the San Francisco Bay Area as the 2024 US presidential campaign revs up the divisive rhetoric against non-mainstream communities. And a personal account of a breast cancer struggle that paved the way to an entrepreneurial venture.

But we don't need any official proclamation to shine the light on the June batch of FilAms Among the Remarkable and Famous, the 58th edition.

Read Agains:

Two Centuries of Filipino Immigration to the US

Rizal’s Cook Remembers a Good Man

Rizal's "Kiss"

[Video of the Week] The Filipino Story (Episode 2)

In The Know

Pentagon ran secret anti-vax campaign to undermine China during pandemic
https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-covid-propaganda/

New protection for undocumented families applauded
https://asamnews.com/2024/06/18/dreamers-immigration-reform-citizenship-made-easier/

The Best Filipino Restaurant in the Bay Area Isn’t a Restaurant at All
https://www.kqed.org/arts/13959765/best-filipino-restaurant-oakland-tipunan-ghost-kitchen

Torn from Family at Birth Because of Parents' Leprosy, Woman Reunites with Brother 53 Years Later (Exclusive)
https://people.com/torn-from-family-because-of-parents-leprosy-woman-reunites-brother-53-years-storycorps-exclusive-8661113

Medal of Honor Monday: Army 1st Lt. Rudolph B. Davila
https://www.defense.gov/News/Feature-Stories/Story/Article/3407437/medal-of-honor-monday-army-1st-lt-rudolph-b-davila/

Anti-Asian Hate Watch

FBI official admits mistakes, vows to improve relations with Asian-American communities
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3266087/fbi-official-admits-mistakes-vows-improve-relations-asian-american-communities

Playground named after grandma fatally beaten in San Francisco
https://asamnews.com/2024/06/17/yik-oi-huang-peace-and-friendship-park-beating-victim-san-francisco/

Woman sentenced to 40 days in jail in viral hate crime in Texas
https://asamnews.com/2024/06/18/racist-tirade-plano-texas-video-social-media-esmeralda-upton-sentenced/

Public Policy Inst. of California Releases Data on Hate Crimes
https://www.postnewsgroup.com/public-policy-inst-of-california-releases-data-on-hate-crimes/

Woman arrested for alleged hate crime against 2 Asian residents in Bellevue
https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/bellevue-hate-charges

Funding provided by the State of California.

March 09, 2022

Mother Courage

March 09, 2022/ Gemma Nemenzo

What are these Filipino women made of?

True Grit: Risa Hontiveros, like Vice President Leni Robredo, was widowed early and had to raise her four children as a single parent. Yet, with courage and resolve, she went on to become a senator (running for a second term this May) who champions issues that directly elevate the lives of her kababayans. Veteran journalist Paulynn P. Sicam, who has seen Risa evolve through the years, sums up her accomplishments.

Talent and Grace: The classically trained Minda Azarcon was a musical star in every sense -- singer, pianist, composer, conductor, teacher. She composed the musical score for such internationally acclaimed movies such as Tinimbang Ka Nguni't Kulang, Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos and Insiang, among others. Until her recent death at 85, she was the epitome of grace and regality, as her student and close friend, the artist Janine Barrera-Castillo, writes.

Toughness and Resilience: Her marriage plucked her from her close-knit family in Cebu and brought her to Maine, probably the most weather-unfriendly state for Filipinos in the US. But like many Filipino women faced with similar challenges, Geraldine Chappe toughed it out and thrived, creating a small community of kababayans in the process. Her grateful husband, Durin Chappe, tells us their story.

And then there's VP Leni, now causing sleepless nights of her opponents as her "kakampink" army of volunteers worldwide fuels her momentum as the most viable candidate against the survey-leading son of a deposed head of state. Will she manage the previously unthinkable and win? At this point in the campaign, it is important to keep in mind the wisdom of the ages: Never Ever Underestimate the Power of the Filipino Woman.

Read Again the Stories of Filipino Women in History:

Kumander Liwayway, A Feminine Warrior by Ana Maria Nemenzo
http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/kumander-liwayway-a-feminine-warrior

Helena Benitez by Lyca Benitez-Brown
http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/2013/5/travels-with-my-aunt

Clemencia Lopez, Independista by Lyca Benitez-Brown
http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/2013/3/clemencia-lopez-independista

Sofia de Veyra by Titchie Carandang-Tiongson
http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/the-thoroughly-modern-sofia-de-veyra

Sor Martha de San Bernardo by Robby Tantingco
http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/give-this-pampanguea-a-memorial-in-the-west-philippine-sea

Recipe of the Week: The Happy Home Cook: Manila Clams in Pinot Grigio

Video of the Week: The World’s Oldest Chinatown

Philippine Elections 2022

Robredo leads in presidential race based on Facebook analytics
https://mb.com.ph/2022/03/08/robredo-leads-in-presidential-race-based-on-facebook-analytics/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=robredo-leads-in-presidential-race-based-on-facebook-analytics&fbclid=IwAR2OQK5SJEAJllpTx5Ld4jJp4MfCA3ZUPXWYmCUclU1uMUwwKoOnya93JDk

Can you guess the next Philippine President?
https://mb.com.ph/2022/02/28/can-you-guess-the-next-philippine-president/

Google, YouTube raise credible content, reduce misinformation ahead of Halalan 2022
https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/03/01/22/raise-facts-reduce-fakes-googles-move-in-halalan-2022?fbclid=IwAR14nNAwmT_RBAcd-NjqECexj8Xy_cqOQOD-aAJq5PHgKr0YnLsna-pzsc8

An alternative to marching into certain ignoble defeata
https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2022/03/04/2164764/alternative-marching-certain-ignoble-defeat?fbclid=IwAR1ov4pL-MFb2af5laIPTTBrIraHlLLNt2RRL6ObZLR8l9tOTUt4odrWCGc

Who is man of the hour Atty. Luke “Wag kang bastos!” Espiritu?
https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/spotlight/03/05/22/who-is-atty-luke-wag-kang-bastos-espiritu?fbclid=IwAR2GmFW7WGKXAhdj6ivCoDdmNZagLQzfQeIT2LW24QmGhQDVQY4URg2Effo

In The Know

Duterte approves law amending FIA
https://businessmirror.com.ph/2022/03/04/duterte-approves-law-amending-fia/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=sfpcg_newsletter_volume_1_issue_2_february_2022&utm_term=2022-03-04

The ‘Hiker’ statue is monumental miseducation about Filipinos in Cambridge and 51 other cities
https://www.cambridgeday.com/2022/03/07/the-hiker-statue-is-monumental-miseducation-about-filipinos-in-cambridge-and-51-other-cities/?fbclid=IwAR35AUyywPzxnboBRa3BHcwvLc3E1WF2AvRiUp1dZtfcPf6hMVIZIbvG1zc

‘One diamond could have bought two airports’ – the Filipino recreating Imelda Marcos’s gems stash
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/mar/01/pio-abad-imelda-marcos-jewellery-philippines-stash-gems-plundering-filipino?fbclid=IwAR0NI93OMuBNAJyip-AWdDDjFJHplGhe2ucyHAQlDcb_WpTn6hviZQuW9mg

Around the world in 80 Pinoy adobos
https://philstarlife.com/living/715309-pinoy-adobos?page=2

How this son of a Filipino fruit picker helped shape a trendsetting New York movement
https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/art/02/27/22/filipino-artist-helped-shape-a-60s-new-york-movement

Filipina Actress Hailed As ‘Mega Star’ Cast In ‘Mango Bride’ Adaptation
https://www.latintimes.com/filipina-actress-hailed-mega-star-cast-mango-bride-adaptation-507086?fbclid=IwAR3u9D65qq3Mxu9g_5zTd61yL32Vg2Ou2mGBENqg1fo4PCHm_BqK0Rq4bTo

The East Bay is the Bay Area’s great unsung destination for Filipino food
https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/filipino-food-restaurants-hayward-union-city-16969628.php?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headlines&utm_campaign=sfc_chroniclefood&sid=53bb0669fdd5ac0b52000049

September 16, 2020

Unsettled and Unsettling

September 16, 2020/ Gemma Nemenzo

We live in unsettled and unsettling times. In both the Philippines and the US, we can almost feel the ground shifting at our feet as we deal with the pandemic and await the coming of the political maelstrom.

For those who lived in the Philippines and were attuned to the national mood in 1972, there is a feeling of deja vu, because around this time 48 years ago, the ground beneath our feet was likewise unsteady. A week later, martial law was declared and the country's historical arc bent towards authoritarianism.

Lest we forget those years under the Marcos regime (14 more years of it, from 1972) and to add to the collection of narratives of that era, here are our stories:

Ex-political detainee Ernesto M. Hilario writes of his prison experience in "Never Again to Martial Law"

In my column, I recall my personal stories of visiting prison in "Visiting YRC"

Read Again:
Martial Law Stories: House Arrest

Martial Law Stories: The “Torture” of Playing for Miss Universe 1974

For those who missed PF's webinar on the Anti-Terror Law, here's the recording:

[Webinar] The Anti-Terrorism Law And How It Will Affect You